RIYADH – The number of families refusing to take in female prisoners after their release do not exceed 1 percent, according to a spokesman from the Directorate General of Prisons. Col. Ayoub Bin Nuhait told Makkah daily: “Many prisoners are shocked to be stigmatized by society after their release. “We are trying to raise awareness that released prisoners are no longer corrupted members of the society. “The prison has taken care of rehabilitating them before releasing them back into society.” When a female prisoner is unwelcomed by her family, the directorate intervenes by assigning experts and researchers to look into the case. The directorate is currently working with several government agencies to ensure that the released prisoners' transition back into society is as smooth as possible. He said: “We also encourage and celebrate education. Nine hundred and seventy-eight released prisoners joined and graduated from 14 different universities in the Kingdom. Last year we celebrated the graduation of 718 released prisoners, three of which were master's degree students.” The general directorate has been in support of alternative punishments to imprisonment. “In 1985, the directorate set a regulation to hand down a lesser sentence to prisoners who have memorized the entire Holy Qur'an,” said Nuhait. Meanwhile, the general manager of the Directorate General of Prisons Maj. Gen. Ibrahim Al-Hamsy said as part of its preparation for remote court hearings, the directorate would install surveillance facilities in various prisons in the Kingdom by May.
